Selective travel draft gear with increased travel in buff



Oct. 30, 1962 D. s. CAMPBELL SELECTIVE TRAVEL DRAFT GEAR WITH INCREASEDTRAVEL IN BUFF 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 25, 1953 INVEN TOR.

Oct. 30, 1962 D. s. CAMPBELL Re. 25,273

SELECTIVE TRAVEL DRAFT GEAR WITH INCREASED TRAVEL IN BUFF Oct. 30, 1962D. s. CAMPBELL 25,273

SELECTIVE TRAVEL DRAFT GEAR WITH INCREASED TRAVEL IN BUFF Original FiledMarch 25. 1953 4 She ets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 25,273 SELECTIVE TRAVEL DRAFT GEAR WITH INCREASEDTRAVEL IN BUFF David S. Campbell, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to CardwellWestinghouse Company, a corporation of Delaware Original No. 2,728,465,dated Dec. 27, 1955, Ser. No. 344,131, Mar. 23, 1953. Application forreissue Dec. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 704,849

10 Claims. {Cl. 213-44) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to draft gears for railroad cars, and has for itsprincipal object to increase the possible travel in buff, and thus givebetter cushioning to the car and the lading.

Generally speaking, this is accomplished by offsetting the draft geartoward the end of the car to let the couple horn go an increaseddistance from the striking plate when the draft gear is released.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich- FIG. 1 is a horizontal section through familiar parts of afreight car showing the draft gear applied;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of the same;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section through the draft gear andportions of the draft yoke, center sills, and draft lugs;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section on the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section on the line '55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section showing the relations of the relevantparts in bulf;

FIG. 7 is a similar view of the parts in draft;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a side bar or thrust column, two ofwhich are used in the draft gear shown;

FIG. 9 is a cross section on the line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the front or outer draft gear housing;and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the rear or inner draft gear housingand a shear pin used to hold temporarily the draft gear compressed forhandling, shipping, and installing.

But these drawings and the corresponding description are for the purposeof illustrative disclosure only, and are not intended to imposeunnecessary limitations on the claims.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the draft gear indicated generally by 10 is shown inthe familiar surroundings of center sills 11, draft lugs 12, draft yoke13, coupler butt or shank 14, draft key 15, coupler carrier iron 16,draft gear carrier iron 17, coupler horn 18, and striking plate 19 (allcorresponding to Fig. 10.51 of the Car Builders Cyclopedia, 1946, p.944). These parts are so familiar that no specific description isthought necessary.

The draft gear includes filler blocks in the form of an outer or fronthousing 20, an inner or rear housing 21, a cushioning element 22 betweenthe housings, and side bars or thrust columns 23.

The inner or rear housing includes a rear wall 24 to cooperate with therear draft gear lugs 12 and a front wall 25 to cooperate with thecushioning element 22, the walls 24 and 25 being connected by side walls26.

The inner or rear wall 24 is offset forwardly or toward the end of thecar as shown at 27 wide enough to receive the draft gear yoke 13-, asshown in FIGS. 3, '6, and 7.

The front or outer housing includes an inner or rear wall 28 tocooperate with the cushioning element 22 and a front wall 29 tocooperate with the front draft gear lugs 12. The front wall 29 is offsetoutwardly or Re. 25,273 Reissuecl Oct. 30, 1962 toward the end of thecar, as indicated at 30; a distance corresponding to the offset 27 andpresenting a face 31 to cooperate with the inner end of the coupler buttor shank 14 in buff.

The Walls 28 and 29 of the front or outer housing 20 are connected byside walls 32 having passageways 33 and grooved channels 34 to receivethe forward or outer ends of the side bars or thrust columns 23 andprojecting lugs 36.

The side Walls 26 of the rear or inner housing 21 are provided withpassages 37 ending in buttresses 38 and also with vertical openings 39-to receive shear pins 40 adapted to be inserted through the openings 39and an opening 41 in the rear ends of the side bars 23 to hold the draftgear assembled with the cushioning element 22 under sufiicientcompression to enable the draft gear to be inserted in the draft gearpocket between the center sills 11 and the draft gear lugs 12.

The cushioning element 22 may be of any selected type, but is here shownas the rubber spring type composed of a plurality of perforated plates42 and rubber bars 43 on each side of the plates 42 and spacer plates44. A variety of such rubber spring cushioning elements are known, andno detailed description is deemed necessary. Specifications on the orderof those given in Tucker Serial No. 223,746, filed April 30, 1951, nowPatent No. 2,720,319, issued October 11, 1955, may be used.

It will be seen from the drawings (particularly FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7)that, on account of the offsets 27 and 39 in the housings 20' and 21,the draft gear yoke, and therefore the coupler, is allowed to go endwiseto the car an increased distance over that commonly allowed, whichspaces the coupler horn 18 and an increased distance from the strikingplate 19 when the draft gear is in full release.

Upon receiving buffing force indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 6', thecoupler butt acts against the front face 31 of the front housing 20,forces that housing against the cushioning element 22, and that elementin turn against the rear housing 21, and the inner wall 24 which will beheld by the inner draft lugs 12., It will thus be clear that in buff thecoupler horn can travel an increased distance over heretofore standardpractice corresponding to the extent of the ofisets 27 and 30. Thatadditional travel, while the cushioning unit is being compressed,provides additional protection of the car and the lading in buff.

As shown in FIG. 7, when draft is applied, as indicated by the arrow C,the rear housing 21 moves toward the end of the car while the cushioningunit 22 is compressed until the buttresses 38, striking the inner endsof the thrust members 23, force their outer ends against the front draftlugs 12.

In one form of the improved draft gear that has been found satisfactory,the arrangement gives up to 3%" travel in buff as compared with 2%" to2%" in prior devices, and gives up to 2" travel in draft-in all, a totaltravel of 5%", which is still less than 5 /2" now allowed by theAssociation of American Railroads, and leaves 4" travel that makes agreat factor of safety with rubber under that state of compression.

The draft gear, including the front and rear housings, the cushioningelement, and the two side bars 23 are readily assembled under initialcompression and made fast by inserting shear pins 40 through openings 39and 41, when the draft gear will be a unit for storing, shipping,handling, and is readily inserted into the draft gear pocket andsupported by the draft gear carrier. The first considerable shock willshear the pins 40 and release the parts for normal operations described.

The key to the longer travel in buff lies in letting the draft gear yokeand the coupler go forward or outward and space the coupler horn fartheraway from the striking plate than is possible in prior devices.Oifsetting or notching the inner housing is a simple way to permit theincreased travel in release, and offsetting or extending the fronthousing beyond the faces of the front draft lugs makes the cushioningelement move the coupler forward in release and resist reverse movementin buff. Many equivalent expedients will give like results.

Embodiments of this invention, either with a rubber cushioning elementor any other, are interchangeable with standard equipment, because thedraft gear pocket remains the same.

In the particular construction shown in the drawing, and moreparticularly in FIGS. 1, 3, 6, and 7, the rubber cushioning element ofsuitable capacity does not require the full length of the standard draftgear pocket, and the excess is taken up in the housings and 2 1. If asuitable friction or other cushioning element replaced the rubber springelement 10, there might be less requirement for taking up space in thecorresponding housings or followers.

The space between the center sills of the car and the distance betweenthe faces of the draft gear lugs is set by requirements of theAssociation of American Railroads, and fixes the size of the draft gearpocket for cars used in interchange. The particular embodiment of theinvention shown in these drawings fits this novel draft gear into thatpocket, and furnishes the extra travel described. In embodying othercushioning elements, the disclosure will furnish sufficient guide.

I claim:

1. In a draft gear having a striking plate, the combination of a pair ofthrust bars, inner and outer housings therefor with a cushioning elementoperatively positioned between the housings, the inner face of the innerhousing being offset toward the cushioning element wide enough toreceive a draft gear yoke, and the outer face of the outer housing beingoffset outwardly away from the cushioning element an amountcorresponding to the offset of the inner housing, whereby upon releaseof the draft gear an associated draft gear yoke and coupler having ahorn may go outwardly an increased distance corresponding to the offsetsin the housings and provide a correspondingly additional travel of thecoupler horn to the striking plate under buff.

2. In a draft gear, the combination of a pair of thrust bars, inner andouter housings therefor, means connecting one end of each thrust bar toone of the housings, and a cushioning element operatively positionedbetween the housings, the inner face of the inner housing being offsettoward the cushioning element wide enough to receive a draft gear yoke,the outer face of the outer housing being offset outwardly away from thecushioning element an amount corresponding to the offset of the innerhousing, and means to hold the same assembled with the cushioningelement under enough compression to bring the draft gear within thelength of the draft gear pocket, said last named means comprising shearpins extending through aligned holes in the other ends of the thrustbars and the other housing.

3. In a draft gear, inner and outer housings, a cushioning elementoperatively positioned between them, the inner face of the inner housingbeing offset toward the cushioning element wide enough to receive adraft gear yoke, the outer face of the outer housing being olfsetoutwardly away from the cushioning element an amount corresponding tothe olfset of the inner housing, sides of said housings having alignedpassages, and thrust means in said passages comprising bars each havingone end connected to one of said housings and having its other endengageable by the other housing on compression of the cushioningelement.

4. In a draft gear, inner and outer housings, a cushioning elementoperatively positioned between them, the inner face of the inner housingbeing offset toward the cushioning element wide enough to receive adraft gear yoke, the outer face of the outer housing being offsetoutwardly away from the cushioning element an amount corresponding tothe offset of the inner housing, said housings having aligned passages,thrust bars in said passages with one end of each connected to one ofsaid housings, and shear means fastening the other end of each thrustbar to the other housing.

5. In a draft gear, an inner housing having a portion of its inner faceoffset outwardly along a transverse distance wide enough to receive theouter face of the inner end of a draft gear yoke, and having a passagein each of its sides each of which is open at one end to receive the endportion of a thrust column and closed at its other end by a buttress forthe terminal end of said thrust column.

6. In a draft gear, a front filler block having a rear Wall adapted toengage a cushioning element and a front wall adapted to engage draftlugs, said front Wall having a forwardly olfset area adapted to beengaged by a coupler butt.

7. In a railway cushioning mechanism for mounting in the draft pocket ofa railway car frame, said pocket having front and rear stops;longitudinally movable front and rear follower members disposed in saidpocket for transmitting draft and buff loads, respectively, to saidfront and rear stops, respectively; cushioning means interposed betweensaid members for undergoing a certain longitudinal closure travel inopposing relative longitudinal movement thercbetween, and secondary stopmeans flanking said front follower member, with said front followermember having a configuration providing longitudinally unimpededclearance space aligned longitudinally with said secondary stop means toaccommodate relative longitudinal sliding movement between said frontfollower member and said secondary stop means in an amount at leastequal to said certain closure travel, and said secondary stop meansbeing disposed in said pocket to engage directly between said car frameand said rear follower member to limit forward movement of said rearfollower member to a predetermined amount less than said certain closuretravel.

8. In a railway cushioning mechanism for mounting in the draft pocket ofa railway car frame, said pocket having front and rear stops;longitudinally movable front and rear follower members disposed in saidpocket for transmitting draft and buff loads, respectively, to saidfront and rear stops, respectively; said rear follower member having atits rearward end a transverse wall for engagement with the rear stops,cushioning means interposed between said members for undergoing acertain longitudinal closure travel in opposing relative longitudinalmovement therebetween, and secondary stop means flanking said fromfollower member, with said front follower member having a configurationproviding longitudinally unimpeded clearance space alignedlongitudinally with said secondary stop means to accommodate relativelongitudinal sliding movement between said front follower member andsaid secondary stop means in an amount at least equal to said certainclosure travel, and said secondary stop means being disposed in saidpocket to engage directly between said our frame and said rear followermember to limit forward movement of said rear follower member to apredetermined amount less than said certain closure travel.

9. In a draft gear arrangement for mounting in the draft pocket of arailway car frame with a coupler-yoke encircling the gear arrangement,said pocket having longitudinally spaced apart from and rear stops,resiliently yieldable cushioning means in said pocket for longitudinalclosure and release therein and acting in its entirely for cushioningboth bufj' and draft loads, longitudinally movable front and rearfollower means disposed in said pocket to abut said cushioning means atopposite ends thereof, said cushioning means biasing said front and rearfollower means longitudinally against said front and rear stops,respectively, said front and rear follower means, respectively, havingforwardly and rearwardly facing abutment surfaces directly engageablewith said coupler-yoke for receiving buff and draft loads, respectively,said rear follower means having portions extending traversely of saidcushioning means, and rigid secondary stop means disposed longitudinallybetween said front stops and said portions of said rear follower meansand in flanking relation to said front follower means for accommodatinglongitudinal travel of said front follower means relative to saidsecondary stop means when the gear arrangement is acting in buff, saidfront follower means having a configuration providing a longitudinallyunimpeded clearance space aligned longitudinally with said secondarystop means to permit said secondary stop means to engage in directabutment between said front stops and said portions of said rearfollower means to form a rigid column positively limiting draft travelof said gear arrangement to an amount less than the bufi travel thereof.

10. In a draft gear arrangement for mounting in the draft pocket of arailway car frame with a coupler-yoke encircling the gear arrangement,said pocket having longitudinally spaced apart front and rear stopspresenting, re spectively, forwardly and rearwardly facing opposedabutment surfaces; resiliently yieldable cushioning means in said pocketfor longitudinal closure and release therein and acting in its entiretyfor cushioning both bu f and draft loads, longitudinally movable frontand rear follower means disposed in said pocket to abut said cushioningmeans at opposite ends thereof, said front follower means includingportions at opposite sides thereof for abutment with part only of saidabutment surfaces of said front stops, with the remainder of saidlast-mentioned surfaces being exposed, said rear follower means havingportions extending transversely into longitudinally spaced apart,longitudinally overlying relation with at least part of said exposedremainder of said abutment surfaces of said front stops, said cushioningmeans biasing said front and rear follower means into abutmentlongitudinally against said front and rear stops, respectively, todefine longitudinally extending regions along opposite sides of saidpocket, said regions being bounded at 0pposite ends thereof by saidexposed remainder of said abutment surfaces of said front stops and bysaid portions of said rear follower means that overlie said exposedremainder, said front and rear follower means, respectively, havingforwardly and rearwardly facing abutment surfaces for engagement withsaid coupler-yoke for receiving buff and draft loads, respectively, andrigid thrust-column means cooperating with said rear follower means atopposite sides of said pocket and disposed in said regions in straight,longitudinally extending, longitudinally movable flanking relation tosaid front follower means for accommodating longitudinal travel of saidfront follower means relative to said thrust-column means when the geararrangement is acting in bufi, said thrust-column means providing directabutment between said front stops and said rear follower means forpositively limiting draft travel of said gear arrangement and being of alength to fill a part only of said regions and define, when said frontand rear follower means are biased into abutment against said front andrear stops, respectively, a longitudinal clearance accommodating drafttravel of said rear follower means, said clearance being of lessdimension than the bufi closure travel of said gear arrangement.

References Cited in the file of this patent

